‘Bout Time: What Style Guide Are You Using?

‘Bout Time: What Style Guide Are You Using?

By Suzanne McGee, Director

Yup, AP finally eliminated that pesky hyphen from the spelling of email. It may not be a big deal to you, especially as you probably didn’t even know how the style guide spelled it in the first place. But, for many PR folks the AP Stylebook is our guide for usage and spelling, as well as a reference tool.

You usually purchase your first copy for a PR/Communications class though nowadays, you probably have the online subscription. Do you look at the email updates? Are you paying attention to spelling changes along with pronunciation? It’s interesting to follow these as they speak to either an update or what’s hot in the media. Recently there have been a number of updates and information about Arab country capitols or leadership names.

What are you using in college? Is it something other than AP? If you aren’t, then pick one as you have to have some consistency in your writing. Ultimately, your agency or corporate will designate a preference – judging by the weight (3.3 lbs) of the Chicago Manual of Style, hope you go with AP!